Thursday, August 28, 2008

1. play in the playplace for exactly 30 minutes. then get everyone to leave cooperatively.2. eat lunch at the food court. everyone has to finish before they can get up.3. buy a dress to wear to a wedding tomorrow. and try it on.

bonus points for nursing in a dressing room, finding shoes to match the dress, taking toddlers to the potty, or getting to your car safely - carrying the dress, the baby (in a front pack), a screaming toddler, and pushing a double stroller.

you will be judged on patience. adding extra toddlers or infants ups the difficulty score.

pool decathlonthree kids, any age. to medal you must...

1. pack all gear and kids into the car, by yourself.2. sunscreen everyone upon arrival.3. eat a lunch you packed yourself. have enough for everyone. plus snacks and drinks.4. be in the baby pool and the big pool simultaneously.5. reapply sunscreen.6. break up fights over one bucket you have for three kids.7. use all of your spare change to buy ice cream.8. make sure no one falls asleep on the way home.9. cook dinner.10. wash all the towels for tomorrow.

bonus points if you get a tan, read something other than gossip, or if dinner is something other than mac and cheese.

you will be judged on stamina.

i have a bronze in the triathlon, but have yet to medal in the decathlon, i hit the wall on 8...

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

my mother-in-law bought 10 tickets for the kids (and me) to put in the raffle boxes for gift baskets. i put m's name on some, g's name on some, and my name on the rest.

m wanted the webkin basket, g wanted the sports basket, and i wanted the vera bradley basket. i scattered them all around. the last one i put in was for jewelry from macy's. the ticket had m's name on it - and she won!

she scored two bracelets, two pairs of earrings, a necklace, and a watch. all gold, which i don't wear that often except for my anniversary band. there was a time that i swore i would never wear silver, until silpada came along, but i digress.

i had a brilliant idea to take the jewelry back to macy's, get store credit, and do some back to school shopping. the value of the jewelry was $650.

mm was so excited. we talked about all the things we could buy... clothes, shoes, microwaves, etc.

he took the kids to play at the mall and stopped to exchange the jewelry...

Sunday, August 24, 2008

every year around this time, i start thinking that i should get a job...

maybe it's the "back to school" groove, wanting to buy ALL those cute dresses at target, or just the long summer with little adult interaction.

this year i actually took it one step further and went to an interview. mm brought home the church bulletin. in it was an ad for an assistant to a preschool director. part-time with computer skills, finance, and early childhood experience. although i don't have the college courses in early childhood, i do have three small kids, so i feel like i've graduated from the college of "learn by living." and i do have an economics degree and some mad computer skills. so i sent in my resume.

i dressed up - read - not pajamas. my kids did not recognize me. i met with the interviewers and sold my skills. it was a pleasant enough experience...

"oh, you'd want me to be IN the office.""THREE days a week?""more than SIX hours a day?""so you are saying - MINIMUM wage?""and i might have to someday BE the director?"

ok - so at least i tried - i suppose i can do without that extra pocket money in exchange for another year (or more) of hanging out with my 2-year-old.

i can't decide if i want them to call me back or not...

*update* they called back, and are trying to work around my schedule. weird.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

the triplets were here for the weekend. we had pizza night friday - yum, napoli's - and then went to the zoo on saturday. it's hard to describe the feeling of being an aunt. i never understood aunts, always gushing over these kids that aren't even theirs. but then i became one, and i get it now. our nephew and nieces are the cutest, smartest, and nicest ever. so polite, so good, etc, etc, etc.

also good, were my kids. no fighting, lots of helping, and sharing. made me think we are doing an okay job after all.

so - the spoiled rotten one - that would be - me!

the pittsburgh zoo is so fabulous. but i go there all the time. i no longer look at the polar bears with amazement. yeah, we have polar bears. baby elephants, yeah, got those too. seen them. how spoiled is that?

i started to see the zoo through the eyes of others. the amish families - talk about well behaved kids! and our nephew and nieces, their eyes lighting up around every corner... i can see that we are really lucky to have a place like that to go - even sometimes just for lunch.

see - spoiled rotten!

the polar bears were swimming, that was a great treat.

i think the triplets had a nice time in pittsburgh, i can't wait to take them to see the dinosaurs!

Thursday, August 21, 2008

yesterday we had a playdate at a friend's house. we arrived after lunch and the kids played inside. it's so great they are getting to an age where they can be off on their own and we (moms) can actually sit and talk for more than a sentence or two.

later in the afternoon, yes, i tend to stay as long as the kids are being good, we went outside to play. i was inside tying my shoes, and i heard a commotion in the backyard. i went to the back door and my friend was in the swing set fort with 4 kids. one kid was standing on the back porch, mesmerized. in the backyard was what i can only describe as a very large bird. mm later asked if it was "like a really big pigeon?" um, no.

i assume it was an emu? although i'm not sure what an emu could be useful for around here? if anyone knows, please tell me.

my friend was most distressed because the emu was circling the fort and sticking his head through the bars, opening his mouth. she yelled for me to call the police. i went inside and decided this is probably not the time to call 911, although i briefly considered it. i phoned mm and asked him to look up the police station number. (this is when i got the pigeon question) "no! the bird is as tall as me! taller!"

i called the police, this is pretty close to the actual conversation...

"police.""i'm sorry to bother you, however, there is an extremely large bird in my friend's backyard and she is pretty much trapped in the swing set fort with all the kids.""what's the address?"address given."we tried to shoo him away, but he won't budge.""okay, i'll call the farm and tell them to come get their bird.""thank you."

are you kidding me? she knows the bird? she knows who to call? she is not surprised that there are birds like this on the loose in the community? she is not annoyed that i am bothering her with weird calls?

sure enough, the farm down the street came and picked up their bird. all is right with the world. oh - except those therapy bills from the nightmares...

p.s. armed with only a large yellow pirate sword, my friend totally ROCKED for keeping her cool in the face of danger. just another mom sacrificing for her kids. and mine.

Monday, August 11, 2008

this payday brought/bought us dinner at moe's, lunch at chick-fil-a, groceries, some school clothes, a babysitter for an evening, and a movie with the kids...

we saw wall-e. pretty cute. it was k's first movie, she was a little nervous so she sat on my lap the whole time. it was kind of nice to snuggle with her, for a little while. all the kids ate popcorn, in fact, it was their lunch.

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

on the road to becoming green, i am starting to hit some speed bumps. i also have days that i feel completely overwhelmed and i can't take it all in.

some problems i've been having...

1. i refuse to pay $99 for a hemp shower curtain. no matter how green it is. plus i would need two of them and i simply can't afford it. i purchased two fabric (polyester) shower curtains at marshall's. i know anything is better than vinyl, but i thought a more green option would have existed for those of us who are on a budget of sorts. even the cotton ones are upwards of $59.

2. i finally started buying some organic food, including beans, in a can. now i find out cans have bpa in them. i can't win! i am not ready to buy beans, soak them, and cook them. i guess i don't have any other options. and what about canned tomatoes? i'm supposed to crush my own? i'm not sure if i can go there.

3. after a few weeks of no sippy cups, we caved and bought a set of four for k. there were just too many spills. too many to count. way too many.

4. the proactiv seems to be working. and i like it. a lot.

5. i'm starting to feel guilty about throwing paper away. especially packaging that is made with post-consumer waste. i feel like i should extend its life yet again. i have started a paper box, but it is in the garage and a long way from the kitchen. maybe i should move it. paper stresses me out. i feel like it's the only thing left in my trash. but i'm not ready to do anything about it.

maybe i should take a break and enjoy the progress i have made so far... anyone else feel completely overwhelmed with green?

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

in the spirit of saving money - we want the girls to have "real" bedroom furniture before they turn 18 - we have not been eating out. i didn't think we ate out that much anyway, but now that we aren't, i really want to. and it is making me quite grouchy. i'm especially missing moe's and chick-fil-a. and fountain pepsi. how sad is that?

also, i have been taking on a lot of the "meal" chores. compiling recipes, making grocery lists, prepping the food, cooking... as most of you know, i don't particularly enjoy this, at all. and also, as most of you know, if i don't enjoy something, i whine, endlessly. that coupled with the kids whining over some "yucky" meal that i've spent my evening fixing, makes for even more grouchiness. oh - and plus - more dirty dishes!

so where does mm fit in with all of this? he is "compromising" as well, mostly having to listen to me whine... he also does the grocery shopping, the kitchen cleaning, and one other service. he eats leftovers. like a champ. and he never complains. and sometimes, he says my meals are good. cool.

"compromise, if not the spice of life, is its solidity. it is what makes nations great and marriages happy."